

. THIS 
PICTUREandTHAT 



BY 



Brander Matthews 





LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

©|a{t. ©upiirjgli 1| o. 

Shelf,___._/Xf- 

XJNITEB STATES OF AMERICA. 




"dashing dick willoughby" 



THIS PICTURE AND THAT 



B ComeDs 



BY 



BRANDER MATTHEWS 



ILLUSTRATED 




IT APR 4^6 1894'* 



NEW YORK 



^ 9o ^r "^ 



HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 
1894 



/^ 



Harper's ''Black and White" Series. 

Illustrated. 32mo, Cloth, 50 cents each. 



This Picture and That. A 

Comedy. By Brander Mat- 
thews. 
Travels in America 1 00 Years 

Ago. By Thomas Twining. 
My Year in a Los Cabin. By 

William Dean Howells. 
Evening Dress. A Farce. By 

William Dean Howells. 
The Work of Washington 

Irving. By Charles Dudley 

Warner. 
Edwin Booth. By Laurence 

Hutton. 
The Decision of the Court. 

A Comedy. By Brander Mat- 
thews. 
Phillips Brooks. By Rev. 

Arthur Brooks, D.D. 
George William Curtis, By 

John White Chadwick. 
The Unexpected Guests. A 

Farce. By William Dean 

Howells. 
Slavery AND THE SlaveTrade 

IN Africa. By Henry M. 

Stanley. 



By 
By 
By 



An 



The Rivals. By Frangois 

Coppee. 
Whittier : Notes of his Life 

AND OP his Friendships. By 

Annie Fields. 
The Japanese Bride. 

Naomi Tamura. 
Giles Corey, Yeoman, 

Mary E. Wilkins. 
Coffee and Repartee. 

John Kendrick Bangs. 
James Russell Lowell. 

Address. By George William 

Curtis. 
Seen from the Saddle. By 

Isa Carrington Cabell. 
A Family Canoe Trip. By 

Florence Watters Snedeker. 
A Little Swiss Sojourn. By 

William Dean Howells. 
A Letter of Introduction. 

A I'arce. By William Dean 

Howells. 
In the Vestibule Limited. 

By Brander Matthews. 
The Albany Depot. A Farce. 

By William Dean Howells. 



Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York 

For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent by the publishers, 
postage prepaid, on receipt of price. 



Copyright, 1894, by Harper & Brothers. 



All rights reserved. 



NOTE 

[TJiis comedy was acted at the Lyceum The- 
atre in New York in 1887, with Miss Mathilde 
Madison as Mrs. Willoughby, arid with Mr. Henry 
Miller as Major John Strong. During the same 
season my friend Mr. Bronson Howard produced 
his vigorous drama of American life and charac- 
ter, " The Henrietta "y and on his programme he 
gave credit to the author of " Vanity Fair " for 
one situation of his new play. This drew my at- 
tention to the fact that I, too, had borrowed this 
same situation of Thackeray^ s for the present 
comedy. It was a clever school-boy, I think, and 
not a dull one, who defined a '■'■plagiarist " as " a 
writer of plays.^'' My plagiarism, {if so it must 
be called) was perhaps the less heinous for being 
wholly unconscious — as ^Thackeray himself had 
probably forgotten that Leatherstocking died 
saying "■Heref'' a score of years before Colonel 
Newcome drew himself up on his death-bed and 
answered to the roll-call, " Adsum .''"] 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



" DASHING DICK wiLLOUGHBT " . . . Frontispiece 

MRS. wiLLOUGHBY Facing page 2i 

"he took up with another woman" " " 38 



THIS PICTURE AND THAT 



CAST OF CHARACTERS 

Mrs. WlLLOTTGHBY. 

Major John Stkong, U.S.V. 

Dr. DoTTLTON, formerly surgeon U.S.A. 

A Hall-boy of the Hotel. 



Scene :— Mrs. Willoughby's parlor in the Fifth Ave- 
nue Hotel, New York. 



Time :— An evening in the spring of 1864. 



The time is the evening of a day in the 
spring of 1864, and the scene is a parlor of 
the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The parlor is like 
most other hotel parlors. There is a man- 
tel-piece on one side of it, separating two 
windows which look out on Madison Square. 
On the opposite side is a desk ; and a little 
beyond this is the door leading into Mrs. 
Willoughby's bedroom. The door at the 
back of the parlor opens into the hall of the 
hotel. There is a sofa before the fireplace. 
There is an easel near one of the windows, 
empty, but with a silk flag thrown over it 
carelessly. In one of the upper corners 
stands a piano. 

Mrs. Willoughby is seated at her piano, 
playing one after another of a collection of 
war -songs: "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the 

2 



12 



Boys ane Marching," "The Battle-cry of 
Freedom," and at last "Johnny Comes 
Marching Home." Then she plays more 
slowly, until at last she stops and speaks: 

" And some poor fellows do not come 
marching home. I do wish Major Strong- 
had not to go back to the war again. I 
shall miss him very much. It is strange 
how a woman can get to know a man in a 
few short months. This time last year I 
had never heard of Major Strong ; and last 
summer, when I read the news of the battle 
of Gettysburg, I could have seen his name 
in the list of the wounded without any other 
emotion than the vague pity a woman feels 
for all those who have suffered while doing 
their duty. And now I hate the very idea 
of his going back into danger. [8he turns 
to the piano again and plays the same tune ' 
softly.'] And his name is John, too ! I won't 
believe that anything can happen to him; 
this Johnny will come marching home 
again ! [She stops playing once more.] Af tdi- 



13 



all, what is it to me whether he goes or 
comes— whether he lives or dies? I'm not 
in love with the man! He hasn't asked me 
to marry him— yet. And I wouldn't if he 
did ! [ She turns to piano and plays the 
" Old Folks at Home" very gently.] But I 
can confess that I like Major Strong very 
much — very much indeed. Why shouldn't 
I be fond of him? He is kind, and con- 
siderate, and attentive. I'm sure I shall 
miss him when he is gone. And this is his 
last evening, and he is coming to bid me 
good-bye." 

[As she is playing softly and dreamily, a 
knock is heard. She jumps up and 
runs to the door of her own room. 
" Perhaps that is he now! And I am not 
fit to be seen. Come in !" 



II 

[A hall-boy appears in the doorway. 
The hall - boy :" Some flowers for you, 
mum, and a letter." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Put them on the 
table." 
The hall-boy: "All right, mum." 
[He places a hunch of flowers and a letter 
on the parlor table, and is going hack 
to the door as Mrs. Willoughby checlcs 
him with a sudden exclamation. 
Mrs. Willoughby : "Oh! Just ask at the 
office if a picture has not been sent for me. 
I'm expecting a portrait this evening, and 
it ought to be here now." 
The hall-boy : " I'll look it up, mum." 
[Then he disappears, closing the door 
after him. 



Ill 

Mrs. Willoughby {going to the table) : "Roses 
and lilies of the valley — my favorite flowers 
— they are from the Major, I'm sure. [She 
takes up the flowers and sees the card attached.'] 
Here's his card — P. P. C. I know I shall miss 
him ever so much ! [She arranges the flowers 
in a vase on the table.] And he has added 
forget-me-nots, too, I don't think I am like- 
ly to forget him, however far away he may 
go. I don't know how I should ever have 
lived through the winter without him. A 
widow has a hard time all by herself unless 
some one takes pity on her. How well those 
forget-me-nots set off the roses and lilies of 
the valley !" 

[As she moves away to get a better look at 

the flowers, the letter is brushed off the 

table and falls to the floor. 



16 



"My letter ! I wonder now who wrote 
it? \_S'hepicksitup.'\ It's from Daisy Brown, 
I declare." 

\^8he opens tlie envelope, tTirowing it care- 
lessly on the taUe, and then legins to 
read the letter. 

" Chicago, May 1st, 1864. 
' ' ' My dabling Mary, '—My darling Mary 
— and she hasn't written me for nearly six 
months. [Reading again.] ' I should have 
answered your last letter long ago, if I hadn't 
been so busy settling up the accounts of our 
Sanitary Fair. The General — you know that 
my husband has just been brevetted a brig- 
adier.' I didn't know it — and I was wonder- 
ing what had moved her to write to me all 
of a sudden; I see now that she wanted to 
break the news gently. [Beading.] 'The 
General wants to know if we are to congrat- 
ulate you on your engagement to Captain 
Strong.' Kow I wonder what could have 
put such a silly idea into their heads ? 
[Heading.] 'We have heard the rumor 



17 



from several sources.' I wish people la 
Chicago would find something to talk about. 
I'd like it better if they would attend to 
their own divorces, and just let our mar- 
riages alone. \_Beading.'] 'The General 
says that if you are engaged, he can con- 
gratulate you heartily ; he has the highest 
opinion of Captain Strong.' I suppose Cap- 
tain Strong ought to feel very much com- 
plimented by General Brown's praise. [Read- 
ing.'] 'You know the General command- 
ed the brigade at Gettysburg when Cap- 
tain Strong was wounded, and so he knows 
all about him.' " 

[Mrs. Willoughby pauses in her reading 
for a moment.] "I wonder how Daisy 
Brown would like me to write her patroniz- 
ing praise of the General, as she calls him ! 
[Then she took up the letter again.] 'I 
trust you will excuse my frankness, darling 
Mary, when I say I hope you will take Cap- 
tain Strong. You know I never approved 
of your first husband.' Well, I like that — 



18 



and she did all she could to catch him for 
herself. That's the reason I asked her to be 
a bridesmaid." 

[Mrs. Willoughby continues reading, hut 
with a growing indignation.'] "'The Gen- 
eral calls him " a man you can tie to," as 
we say here in the West. He is just the 
husband you need to anchor your vagrant 
fancies, for you know you are inclined to 
be sentimental, not to say flighty.' Well, 
Daisy Brown, this is cool ! But I'll make 
it hot for you when you get my answer. I 
wonder what she will dare to say next. 
[Beading. ] ' What is perhaps Captain 
Strong's chief recommendation is that he is 
the exact opposite of the late Colonel Wil- 
loughby, whom you did not really love, al- 
though you are still trying to persuade 
yourself that you did. To wear mourning 
for a man two years after he is dead is in- 
delicate, and I do hope you have given it 
up. You were dazzled by Dick Willough- 
by's good looks, and by his dashing ways ; 



19 

but I don't believe you cared any more for 
him than he did for you — and that was little 
enough. He married you for your money, 
and it is lucky for you he did not live to 
spend it all.' " 

Mrs. Willoughby {rising rapidly from her 
cliair) : '' This is really too much ! Of course 
poor Dick was extravagant, and he hadn't 
any money of his own, but he was very fond 
of me. She speaks of him as if he were a 
mere fortune-hunter, and she writes to me 
as if I were a silly school-girl. \Walking 
across the room to a desk near the window.'] 
I wish I could return her letter unread ! 
At least, I'll send it back, and beg her not 
to intrude on me again with her advice and 
her boasting ! If I said all I wanted to say 
I should have to use red ink and a red-hot 
pen. I wish I could have her here for five 
minutes. I think I could use language that 
would astonish her — even though she does 
live in Chicago. How shall I begin? [^8he 
takes up her pen and writes.'] ' Madam, I 

3 



20 



take pleasure in returning your most im- 
pertinent letter [a knock is heard at the 
door], and I forbid your writing me again.' 
There! I wonder how she will like that." 
[A second knock is heard, louder than the 
first. 
Mrs. Willoughby : "There's a knock. 
[^She rises.] Perhaps it's Captain Strong — 
I mean Major Strong — and I'm sure my hair 
is coming down. [She runs to the door of 
her own room, and then says] : Come in !" 



IV 

[The door opens, and Dr. Doulton enters. 

Dr. Doulton: "Good-evening." 

Mrs. Willoughlby {coming forward again) : 
"Oh, it's only you ?" 

Dr. Doulton : " Only I ? Pray, whom 
were you expecting ? The President of the 
United States or the Czar of Russia ?" 

[He glances quickly about the room. 

Mrs. Willoughby: "The czar is not more 
autocratic than a family physician." 

Dr. Doulton : "Your family physician 
will not condemn you to the knout this 
evening — though you probably deserve it." 

Mrs. Willoughby : " Why ?'? 

Dr. Doulton: "Because you are a wom- 
an, and a woman spends half her time in 
making mischief and the other half trying 
to hide it. The world would come to an 



22 



end very soon if it were not that she is her 
own worst enemy, and hurts herself twice 
as much as any one else. [Looking at her 
carefully.'] What have you been up to 
now ?" 

Mrs. Willoughby (uncomfortably) : * ' Don't 
stare at one like that." 

Dr. Doulton : "You have been getting 
angry — that's what you have been doing." 

Mrs. Willoughby (surprised): "How did 
you know ?" 

Dr. Doulton: "A little bird told me— or 
a pair of them, rather — the two robin-red- 
breasts which flamed in your cheeks just 
now." 

Mrs. Willoughby (running to the mirror 
over the mantel-piece) : ' ' Am I red ? I hate 
to have too much color." 

Dr. Doulton (taking a chair): " That's be- 
cause you are a woman, and therefore un- 
reasonable." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "You are a Russian 
to-night — a regular bear. " 



23 



Dr. Doulton: "I am. [He holds out Ms 
hand.] And here's my paw. Let me have 
yours." 

[She extends her arm and he feels her 
pulse. 

Mrs. Willoiigliby {after a pause) : ' ' Well ?" 

Dr. Doulton : ' ' What did the woman write 
to make you so angry ?" 
-Mrs. Willoughby {hotly): "She was in- 
sufferable ! [Suddenly.] But how did you 
know anything about her ?" 

Dr. Doulton : " I put two and two togeth- 
er — the flush on your cheeks ; this letter you 
have received here [indicating envelope on 
the table] and that one you have been writ- 
ing there" [indicating desk]. 

Mrs. Willoughby : " Sometimes I am 
afraid of you." 

Dr. Doulton : ' ' People generally are afraid 
of doctors and lawyers, and that's why they 
abuse us and fear us. A man can have few 
secrets that his counsel or his physician can't 
know — and a woman hasn^t any." 



24 



Mrs. Willougliby : " Then perhaps you 
can tell me what is the matter with me 
lately ?" 

Dr. Doulton : "Just now you are excited, 
partly because you have been writing an 
angry letter, and partly because our good 
friend, Major Strong, is going to leave us 
to-night on his way to the front again." 

Mrs, Willoughby {taking up a paper-cut- 
ter from the table) : " Of course we shall all 
miss him." 

Dr. Doulton: "Of course. Those are 
pretty flowers he has sent you." 

Mrs. Willoughby (^swprised again) : 
" Well, you are the — " 

Dr. Doulton : " No ; I'm not the devil — 
but you left his card by the side of the 
vase," 

Mrs. Willoughby (laughing) : " You seem 
to see everything. There is something un- 
canny about you." 

[S7ie drops the paper-cutter. 

Dr. Doulton : " You are restless. You 




MRS. WILLOUGHBY 



25 

have been laughing with me, but you have 
been crying nearly all the afternoon. 

[Mrs. Willoughby turns away from him. 

Dr. Doulton : " If you don't control your- 
self, you will cry again now, and I shall have 
a case of hysteria on my hands." 

Mrs, Willoughby {taking her handkerchief 
from her eyes) : "I am not going to give 
way again, doctor, but I confess I have been 
feeling strangely all day. I don't know 
what is the matter," 

Dr. Doulton: "I do," 

Mrs. Willoughby : " What is it ?" 

Dr. Doulton: " They call me blunt be- 
cause sometimes I say sharp things. That 
may sound like a paradox, but it isn't. Now, 
if 1 tell you the medicine you need, two 
things will happen : you won't take it — and 
you won't thank me," 

Mrs, Willoughby : ' ' Indeed I shall, doc- 
tor. I will do whatever you bid me. I will 
take anything you prescribe." 

Dr. Doulton: "Sure?" 



26 



Mrs. WUloughby : "Try me." 

Dr. Doulton : "I will." 

Mrs. Willoughby {anxiously) : " Is my mal- 
ady so very serious, then ?" 

Dr. Doulton : ' ' Xo, your complaint is com- 
mon enough. Tou are suffering from idle- 
ness and from lack of something to think 
about — or, I should say, for lack of somebody 
to think about." 

^Mrs, Willoughby : "I am not sure that I 
understand you." 

Dr. Doulton : "Yes, you are — if you will 
pardon my frankness — you are a young 
woman, and it is not good for woman to be 
alone. Tou need something to occupy your 
mind. Marry !" 

Mrs. Willoughby : "Doctor !" 

Dr. Doulton : "Of all the ill weeds which 
grow apace, the most useless and pernicious 
are those worn by a widow. [Re toucTies 
tTve flowers on t?oe table before Jiim.'] Plant 
these forget-me-nots on his grave, if you 
will, and strew these lilies of the valley 



27 



above him, if you like ; but remember that 
you are young yet, and that tbere are roses 
in the world still." 

Mrs. Willoughby : "They are not for me." 

Dr. Doulton : " Why not?" 

Mrs. Willoughby: " Why not? Because I 
am loyal to the dead !" 

Dr. Doulton: "As your medical adviser, I 
don't mind telling you that that's a poor 
reason." 

Mrs. Willoughby {hastily): "It must suf- 
fice." 

Dr. Doulton : ' ' But it doesn't. I hold that 
matrimony is like law — if you lose your first 
case, you must move for a retrial." 

Mrs, Willoughb}'' : "Ah, doctor, haven't I 
had trials enough? Come, come, let us change 
the subject." 

Dr. Doulton: "That's just what I have 
been suggesting. If you will change the 
subject of your thoughts, and, above all, of 
your emotions, I think I can guarantee a 
cure." 

4 



28 

Mrs. Willoughby: "But I refuse to take 
the medicine." 

Dr. Doulton : " Then I'm afraid I must give 
up tlie case." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "You had better give 
up the attempt to make me alter my resolve. 
I am as fixed as Penelope." 

Dr. Doulton : "But although her husband 
told travellers' tales and could draw the long- 
bow, he was at least alive." 

Mrs. Willoughby {witJi reserve, and after a 
marked pause): "It has been very warm to- 
day for so early in the spring; don't you 
think so, doctor ?" 

Dr. Doulton: "I think that I had better 
retire in good order, while a way of retreat is 
left open to me." 
* Mrs. Willoughby: " So do I." 

Dr. Doulton : "But I do not give up. In 
matrimony as in medicine, while there's life 
there's hope. " 

Mrs. Willoughby: " You need not fear that 
I shall make a death-bed recantation." 



29 

[A knock is heard at the door of the 
parlor. 
Mrs. Willoughby : "I do believe that's 
Major Strong ! [Munning to the door of her 
own room. ] And I have been so upset by my 
talk w^ith you that I must look like a fright ! 
I shall leave you to entertain him! Come 
in!" 



[As the parlor- door opens and Major 
Strong enters, Mrs. Willougliby disap- 
pears into her own room on one side. 
The Major is in uniform. He comes 
forward. 
Major Strong: "Ah, doctor, isn't Mrs. 
Willougliby here?" 

Mrs. Willoughby {hehiiid the door of her 
room) : " Take a chair, Major, and talk to the 
doctor. I shall be with you in a minute!" 

Dr. Doulton (in disgust) : " Now, isn't that 
like a woman? She runs away to aiTange 
her masked batteries when she hears you 
come — " 
Major Strong : " Indeed?" 
Dr. Doulton : " Quite regardless of the fact 
that she has been talking to me calmly for 
ten minutes. " 



31 



Major Strong : "But you are a doctor." 
Dr. Doulton : "But I'm a man, am I not? 
There's really no need of these women-doc- 
tors they say they want ; they don't think 
of us as men. now. They treat us as auto- 
matic, pulse -feeling, and pill -distributing 
waxworks." 

Major Strong: "You had better have 

stayed in the army." 

Dr. Doulton : " So I am beginning to think. " 

Major Strong: "You were intended by 

nature for a military surgeon — you take so 

much delight in cutting up your friends. " 

Dr. Doulton (turning on Mm): "It's a pity 
you didn't fall into my hands when that bul- 
let hit you in the shoulder. [ With a sudden 
return of kindliness.'] How is the pain in 
the arm, eh?" 
Major Strong: "Almost gone." 
Dr. Doulton: "I can give you some little 
pills for it, if you like." 

Major Strong: "It was a little pill of lead 
that gave it to me, but I saw the gentleman 



32 



who prescribed it, and I took a leaf out of 
your book — like cures like, you know — and 
I cured Mm of the fever of living," 

Dr. Doulton: "I don't think you are well 
enough yet to go back to the army; dining 
on salt-horse and boiled rye and sleeping in 
a rifle -pit will not help that shoulder to 
heal." 

Major Strong {quietly): " We are going for- 
ward to-night." 

Dr. Doulton : " 1 don't advise you to go." 

Major Strong : " You speak as my physi- 
cian?" 

Dr. Doulton : " Of course." 

Major Strong: "But as my friend, you 
wouldn't have me lag behind while the regi- 
ment went to the front, would you?" 

Dr. Doulton : " There's no use talking to 
you boys in blue; you are color-blind just 
now — you see red. You soldiers all want to 
go out and kill somebody," 

Major Strong : "We can't all be doctors, 
you know." 



33 



Dr. Doulton : ' ' Now I'm a homoeopath and 
a man of peace—" 

Major Strong: "Yet you served three 
years." 

Dr. Doulton : "I was carried away by all 
your talk of blood and iron, and I went forth 
with fire and sword. Now I have experi- 
enced a change of heart, and I prescribe 
bread pills for old maids' poodles." 

Major Strong : " That is to say, you wish 
you were going with us to-night?" 

Dr. Doulton: "Of course I do. When do 
you start?" 

Major Strong : "In an hour or so, I sup- 
pose. You know I have been appointed to 
a new regiment from the western part of the 
State. It is on its way from Albany now. I 
believe the Seventh is going up to the sta- 
tion to escort it down to the ferry. It is 
only by special favor that I have been 
allowed to remain here all winter trying to 
get well; but as the boys pass down Fifth 
Avenue this evening I am to join them. 



34 

We take the cars for Washington to-night, 
and—" 

Dr. Doulton : "And to-morrow you will 
be sent forward to the Army of the Poto- 
mac." 

Major Strong: "And we shall soon start 
on our usual summer excursion, ' On to Rich- 
mond.' Hitherto we have always failed to 
make the connections, but there's a new time- 
table this year and a new conductor, and we 
hope to get through by daylight." 

Dr. Doulton {impatiently') : " Don't talk to 
me about it, or I shall be tempted to mur- 
der you, steal your uniform, and take your 
place." 

Major Strong : "I've no doubt there will 
be many a day when I shall wish you had." 
Dr. Doulton {watching Mm) : " Mrs. Wil- 
loughby will miss you." 
Major Strong : "I hope ^he will." 
Dr. Doulton : "And you will miss her?" 
Major Strong : " I am sure I shall." 
Dr. Doulton : "She's a charming woman 



35 

— isn't she? — with a fine figure, and a pretty 
foot, and a — " 

Major Strong {with reserve): "She is a 
woman whose charms I am not willing to 
discuss even with you, doctor." 

Dr. Doulton: "And you are quite right, 
too. Never pick a woman to pieces. Wom- 
en are like religion : you've got to take them 
on faith; if you go to probing and analyzing, 
you turn out a sceptic — and you don't fall in 
love." 

Major Strong : "Doctor—" 

Dr. Doulton: "Come, come, you cannot 
deny that you soldiers fall in love as easily 
as you fall in line — and almost as often." 

Major Strong: "I have been in love but 
once in my life." 

Dr. Doulton : " I make a habit of falling in 
love once a year. I prescribe it to myself. I 
find it a most valuable specific against old 
age." 

Major Strong: "If you could only patent 
the remedy, you might make your fortune." 

5 



36 

Dr. Doulton: "And tbat reminds me — I 
hear Mrs. Willoughby is very ricli." 

Major Strong (carelessly): "Ye^? {^Ear- 
nestly.'] But ricli or poor, the man who 
gains her will get a treasure beyond all 
price." 

Dr. Doulton : " Of course. And she says 
she will never marry again. Yet, then, all 
young widows say that, and very few of 
them keep their word. She's a clever wom- 
an, a little light-headed, perhaps, but natu- 
rally light-hearted. Just now she is mourn- 
ing her husband, and she is mourning more 
than is necessary; probably out of remorse 
that she did not love him enough when he 
was alive." 

Major Strong (jq^uicUy): " "What makes you 
think that?" 

Dr. Doulton: "Knowledge of the sex, 
that's all. By-the-way, do you happen to 
know whether her husband was the dashing 
Dick Willoughby who was killed in New 
Orleans?" 



37 



Major Strong {starting): "Why ?" 

Dr. Doulton : ' ' Oh, no matter. I knew Mm 
pretty well — Dashing Dick Willoughby of 
the Fighting Forty-first, as they used to call 
him. A good soldier he was, too, a happy- 
go-lucky, devil-may-care fellow, easy-going 
and hard-living. Curious, wasn't it, that after 
risking himself recklessly, running the gant- 
let of a dozen pitched battles, always ready 
to lead a forlorn hope, he should have been 
shot at last by a woman?" 

Major Strong : " A woman?" 

Dr. Doulton : ' ' And she was a very pretty 
girl, indeed, a black-haired, black-eyed beau- 
ty — a Cuban, I fancy. He had brought her 
with him to New Orleans, and there he took 
up with another woman. Then the first girl 
shot him — almost through the heart : a most 
beautiful case it was ; he didn't live two 
hours." 

Major Strong: "I've heard of this Dick 
Willoughby, but I thought he was killed in 
battle, or just after, by a rebel?" 



38 



Dr. Doulton: "Well, the girl was a rebel, 
I suppose. " 
Major Strong: "Isn't this all idle gossip?" 
Dr. Doulton : " It is solid fact." 
Major Strong: "How do you know?" 
Dr. Doulton: " I was the surgeon who at- 
tended him when he died. [After a pause,] 
He left a wife, I believe — at least, I think I 
heard he had married some pretty little girl 
from up country somewhere — " 
Major Strong: "Poor woman!" 
Dr. Doulton: "I believe she had money, 
too ; that's the kind of woman he would want 
for a wife — rich enough to let him spend 
freely and innocent enough to ask no ques- 
tions. He used to say that women were like 
pease: they were best when they were young 
and tender — and green." 

Major Strong: "And this is the fellow she 
may be mourning over to this day?" 
Dr. Doulton: " Of course." 
Major Strong: "Poor woman!" 
Dr. Doulton (looking at Ids watcJi): "But 



) sif r 




' HE TOOK UP WITH ANOTHER WOMAN " 



39 



I cau't stay here cLatting with you all night. 
I have letters which must be written this 
evening. As Mrs. Willoughby evidently 
doesn't intend to return while I am here, I 
shall leave the coast clear for her. I'll come 
back before you go." 

[Dr. Doulton walks out briskly, hanging 
i?i6 door after Mm. 



VI 

Major Strong (looking after the Doctor): 
"He's a queer customer, but shrewd, too — 
as keen as one of his own scalpels. How 
sharply he saw into that Dick Willoughby ! 
I wonder if that fellow was a relative of 
hers? {Starting.'] Could he have been her 
husband? I think I once heard her say that 
her husband had died at New Orleans. And 
yet it is impossible ! No man married to her 
could ever have looked at another woman. 
I love her!— oh, how I love her! — and I must 
know my fate now. I have put it off day 
after day. And if she refuses me — why, 
then, it is lucky we are ordered to the front. 
\Ile takes up her photograph from table. ] How 
beautiful she is! They say that every lover 
lends his mistress a magic mantle that hides 
her defects and magnifies her charms ; but 



41 



she has no need of any such, for no painter 
could do her justice, and even the cruel sun 
cannot take from her beauty." 



VII 

[Mrs. Willoughby enters quietly from her 
room and stands on one side of the par- 
lor, watching Major Strong. 
Major Strong: "My love!" 

{He kisses the photograph. 
Mrs. Willoughby: "Well—" 
Major Strong {turning in astonishment): 
"Oh!" 
Mrs. Willoughby: "What are you doing?" 
Major Strong (^confused'): "What was I 
doing?" 

MrS. Willoughby (coming forward): "Yes. 
What were you doing with that photo- 
graph?" 
Major Strong: "That photograph?" 
Mrs. Willoughby: "Yes? That photo- 
graph ?" 
Major Strong {recovering himself): "I 



*3 

thought it was a speaking likeness and I was 
whispering to it, to try if it would answer 
me." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "And what were you 
whispering?" 

Major Strong {holdly) : " It is your portrait, 
and I was telling it that I — I — " 

[CatcJiing'MxB. Willoughby's eye, he stops 
abruptly. 

Mrs. Willoughby : " You were telling it — 
what? Goon!" 

Major Strong {in confusion again): "I was 
telling it a secret — which I may tell you — 
some day." 

Mrs. Willoughby {sitting on the sofa): 
"Then I'm sorry I was not able to surprise 
you a minute sooner; perhaps I should have 
overheard it then. They say listeners never 
hear any good of themselves ; and I'm cer- 
tain they never hear it of anybody else." 

Major Strong {taking a chair ly her side) : 
"Surely, you have never caught any one 
speaking ill of you?" 



u 



Mrs. Willoughby: "Oh yes — often; in 
fact, whenever I talk to myself." 

Major Strong (smiling): "Then you have 
one detractor more than I thought, and one 
against whom I cannot defend you. Of what 
do you accuse yourself?" 

Mrs. Willoughby : " Of rudeness — in keep- 
ing you waiting so long; and of barbarity, 
in exposing you to the tender mercies of that 
raging lion, the doctor; and of forgetfulness, 
too — for I have not yet thanked you for 
these lovely flowers. [She rises and goes to 
the table.'] They are exquisite! How did 
you guess that these were my favorites?" 

Major Strong: "I heard you say once that 
roses and lilies of the valley were the flowers 
you liked best, and I ventured to add a few 
forget-me-nots, because I shall hope that you 
will keep a place in your memory for me 
when I go away — " 

Mrs. Willoughby {musing'): "I remember 
I carried a bunch of lilies of the valley at my 
wedding. Dick had given them to me." 



45 

Major Strong {startled) : " Dick?" 

Mrs. Willougbby: " My husband— Colonel 
Willoughby." 

Major Strong: "Was Colonel Willough- 
by 's name Richard?" 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Yes. They used to 
call him Dashing Dick Willoughby, and they 
said he was the idol of the Fighting Forty- 
first." 

Major Strong: "Ah!" 

Mrs. Willoughby: " I was not fit to be the 
wife of such a hero; I was but a silly school- 
girl, and I have often wondered how he had 
patience with me. But he had always a 
bright smile and a pleasant word for me 
whenever I was with him. He was so pop- 
ular, and there were so many demands on his 
time, that I saw very little of him. Why, the 
very winter we were married, he had to go 
down to Cuba all alone to attend to some 
business for a dear friend." 

Major Strong: " So he went to Cuba?" 

Mrs. Willoughby : "Yes; and he had scarce- 



ly been home a fortnight before the war broke 
out, and of course he volunteered at once, and 
I never saw him again." 

[And here she hides her face in handker- 
chief. 

Major Strong: "And he was shot at the 
taking of New Orleans?" 

Mrs. "Willoughby {fiercely): "He was mur- 
dered by some rebel after the city had sur- 
rendered." 

Major Strong : ' ' Murdered ?" 

Mrs. Willoughby : "I cannot tell you any 
details of his death, because my father said 
they were too painful for me, and he would 
not let me read the papers for a month or 
more. " 

Major Strong: " Your father was very con- 
siderate." 

Mx&.'WiW.OMglabY {suddenly): "Do you be- 
lieve that soldiers are always falling in love?" 

Major Strong: " I know one soldier at least 
who has fallen in love but once in his life — 
for the first time and the last." 



*7 

Mrs. Willoughby {looking at him): "Tell 
me about him. I dote on love-stories." 

Major Strong {quailing under Tier glance) : 
"Well— well— I should like to tell you,but— " 

Mrs. Willoughby : ' ' But?" 

Major Strong {confused): "But I cannot 
recollect all the circumstances just now." 

Mrs. Willoughby : " Perhaps you may re- 
call them later. " 

Major Strong: " Perhaps— perhaps. " 

[There is a pause for a little space. 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Charming weather we 
are having for so early in the spring." 

Major Strong (taking courage): "Charm- 
ing, indeed." 

Mrs. Willoughby : " Such a pleasant change 
after this most disagreeable winter. We have 
had nothing but snow and ice, rain and thaw 
— a most exasperating alternation of snow- 
heaps and mud-puddles." 

Major Strong : " I had not noticed it. I 
thought it was the most delightful winter I 
had ever known." 



48 



Mrs. Willoughby : "Then you must have 
kept in-doors." 

Major Strong : "No, I have taken many a 
long walk; hut, then, I was not thinking of 
the weather; my mind was full of something 
else." 

Mrs. Willoughby : "If it kept you from 
discovering what an unbearable winter we 
are having, it must have been something 
very agreeable." 

Major Strong : "It was." 

\_There is another pause. 

Mrs. Willoughby : "I suppose you are 
sorry to have to give up the gayety of New 
York." 

Major Strong : " I have pleasant memo- 
ries to take with me." 

Mrs. Willoughby : " Some of the balls this 
winter were really very pretty, and quite 
worth remembering." 

Major Strong : " There is one of them I 
can never forget — the one at which I first 
met you." 



49 

Mrs. Willoughby : "That was only a lit- 
tle party!" 

Major Strong : "It seemed like a glimpse 
of heaven to a man who has been in a mili- 
tary hospital for six months." 

Mrs. Willoughby : " I remember that you 
looked very pale and weak." 

Major Strong : "And I remember that 
you looked so beautiful, so gracious, so 
good ! My eyes followed you about the 
room until I was afraid you must have dis- 
covered it." 

Mrs. Willoughby : "I did." 

Major Strong {tahen aback): "Oh!" 

Mrs. Willoughby : "I thought you were 
a most interesting invalid, and I asked who 
you were. Just as one friend told me that 
you were Captain Strong, wounded in the 
shoulder at Gettysburg in the repulse of 
Pickett's charge, another friend came up 
and asked permission to present you." 

Major Strong : " You wore a black dress 
like the one you wear now; and you had a 



50 

bunch of red roses and lilies of the valley. 
You were very kind to me then, as you have 
been always. You gave me a rose." 

Mrs. Willoughby : "Did I?" 

Major Strong: "Would you like to see 
it?" 

Mrs. Willoughby: "You don't mean to 
say that you have saved up a few withered 
rose leaves?" 

Major Strong: "Yes." 

Mrs. Willoughby {gently) : ' ' How foolish 
of you!" 

Major Strong {earnestly) : " I have two 
relics which I keep together — the rose which 
you gave me and the bullet the surgeon cut 
out of my shoulder six months earlier. 1 
was very ill when I came on here to New 
York, and the doctors did not know what 
was the matter with me or why I did not get 
well. When I first saw you I was wellnigh 
sick unto death. I had kept the bullet that 
had almost killed me, and when I went home 
from that party I took it out and put it with 



51 

the rose you had given me — the rose which 
brought me back to life. And I have treas- 
ured them ever since — the bane and anti- 
dote." 

Mrs. Willoughby {moved in spite of herself): 
"How much you make of a trifle! \^She 
hesitates for a moment.'] And so you go to- 
night?" 

Major Strong : "In less than an hour." 
[^The sound of an approaching band be- 
gins to be audible. 

Mrs. Willoughby: "So soon?" 

Major Strong {encouraged)-. "My time is 
short, you see; and if I have anything to say 
before I go, I must say it promptl3^ And I 
have something to say — something of the ut- 
most importance to me — " 

Mrs. "Willoughby {starting up) : ' ' There are 
soldiers now! I hear the band. [8he goes 
to the window.'] Surely this is not your regi- 
ment yet?" 

Major Strong: " It is the Seventh, going to 
escort us from the station to the ferry." 

7 



62 



[The band passes under the windows play- 
ing " Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys 
are Marching." 
Mrs. Willoughby: " I confess I shall miss 
you. We have been good friends all winter." 
Major Strong {earnestly): " Can I not hope 
that I may be more than a friend?" 
Mrs. Willoughby: ''Major Strong—" 
Major Strong : " I have made the plunge 
and must go on now while I have the cour- 
age. Do not interrupt me. Hear me out. 
You must have seen that I love you ! I have 
not dared to speak until now when I have 
only a few minutes left me. But you can- 
not have been blind to my devotion. I have 
waited on your words; I have been ready 
to follow you like a dumb dog. I love 
you!" 

[The music of the land begins to die away 

in the distance. 

Mrs. Willoughby : " I am very sorry, but — " 

Major Strong {impetuously) : " I tried to tell 

you this once before, but you would not listen 



63 



to me. Do not say me no. If you cannot 
love me now, at least let me hope that I may 
win you in time. " 

Mrs. Willoughby • " Do not think me hard, 
if—" 

Major Strong: ' ' I could not think you any- 
thing but perfect. All you do is well done — 
even though I may be the sufferer." 

Mrs. Willoughby: " The love of an honest 
man is a thing no woman may put aside 
lightly j it is an honor she cannot but feel; it 
raises her in her own esteem. But — " 

Major Strong: "But you do not love me 
now? Then give me time to try to win you. 
I will love you so much that you cannot but 
love me a little." 

Mrs. Willoughby • " I will not say that you 
are indifferent to me. Your friendship is 
precious, and I have taken pleasure in being 
with you." 

Major Strong {seizing Tier hand): "Then I 
may hope?" 

Mrs. Willoughby (withdrawing her hand) : 



54 

"Perhaps, under other circumstances, I 
would not bid you despair — " 

Major Strong (^quickly) ■ "That is all I 
ask." 

Mrs. Willoughby: " And it is more than I 
can grant, as it is. I do not hold myself free 
to love and to marry. " 

Major Strong; "Why not?" 

Mrs. Willoughby: " I have a husband." 

Major Strong; " But he is dead!" 

Mrs. Willoughby: "The dead are never 
dead till we forget !" 

Major Strong: "Then you refuse me be- 
cause you wish to be faithful to your hus- 
band's memory?" 

Mrs. Willoughby: "I don't think I said 
that exactly— did I ?" 

Major Strong: "Perhaps you did not say 
it in so many words." 

Mrs. Willoughby: " I thought not." 

Major Strong: " Would you hold yourself 
released if your husband had been unfaithful 
to you?" 



Mrs. Willoughb}^ {fiercely rising) : ' ' Major 
Strong, such a suggestion is wholly unworthy 
of you! I do not think it becoming in an 
officer and a gentleman to insult one who is 
not here to defend himself." 

Major Strong {with dignity): "If I knew 
that the only way to win you was to break 
down your faith in your husband, I could 
not do it, much as I love you." 

Mrs. Willoughby (holding out her hand to 
him) : " There spoke the true man again — the 
real friend. [Major Strong kisses her hand.'] 
We shall always be friends, I trust. I can- 
not be your wife — but I will be your sister, 
if you like." 

Major Strong: "I must make the best of 
what I can ; and though sister is a cold word 
to one as much in love as I am, yet I seize it 
gratefully, for it tells me that you do not dis- 
like me, and that you are willing to let me 
love you." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "You may love me as 
a sister." 



56 



Major Strong: "Then you must call me 
John." 

Mrs. Willoughby : " Must I ?" 

Major Strong: "A sister usually calls her 
brother by his given name, doesn't she?" 

Mrs, Willoughby: "I suppose so," 

Major Strong: "And I must call you — 
Mary." 

Mrs. Willoughby : " But only when we are 
alone together," 

Major Strong (eagerly): "And when I get 
back from the war, we shall be alone together 
as much as possible — eh, Sister Mary?" 

[He kisses Tier. 

Mrs. Willoughby {indignantly): "Major 
Strong!" 

Major Strong: "Is not a brother allowed 
to kiss his sister ?" 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Certainly not." 

Major Strong (periitently): "I had thought 
it was customary." 

Mrs. Willoughby: " This is carrying a jest 
a little too far, Maj — " 



57 



Major Strong {prom/pting Tier): "John — 
Sister Mary." 

Mrs. Willoughby {smiling again): "But I 
will forgive you, John, if it doesn't occur 
again." 

Major Strong {taking Tier handj: "I may 
kiss your hand?" 

Mrs. Willoughby: " I don't know whether 
I ought to let you do that or not." 

Major Strong: "Then I will decide for 
you. " [He kisses her hand. 

Mrs. Willoughby : "Do you think a brother 
would want to kiss his sister's hand?" 

Major Strong {passionately) : "I don't 
know what a brother would do! I know 
only that I should like to keep this hand for- 
ever." 

[_Re kisses it again tenderly. 

Mrs. Willoughby {withdrawing her hand): 
" That is not the way a brother talks." 

Major Strong: " I can't help it ! I must — " 

Mrs. Willoughby : ' ' Now, don't let us have 
this unpleasant scene over again! If you 



58 



want us to be friends, you must not speak 
again about what can never be." 

Major Strong: "I shall try to please you, 
but—" 

[A knock is heard. 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Come in." 



vin 

\_The hall-boy enters. 

The hall -boy: "I've found the picture at 
last, mum." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Where was it ?" 

The hall -boy: "It was in the bar-room, 
mum. Two old soldiers saw it in the hall, 
and they knew it for Colonel Willoughby at 
once, for they had been in his regiment, " 

Mrs. Willoughby {eagerly): "Well ?" 

The hall-boy : " They said it looked as nat- 
ural as life — so they took it up to the bar and 
offered it a drink." 

Mrs. Willoughby (to Major Strong) : ' ' You 
see how his men all loved him!" 

Major Strong: "Yes, I see." 

Mrs. Willoughby {to the hall-boy) : ' * Where 
is the picture now ?" 

The hall-boy: " I've got it outside here." 

8 



60 



Mrs. "Willoughby : "Bring it in at once." 
The hall-boy: "All right, mum. [Going 
toward the door, lie 'pauses lefore Major Strong.] 
I heard them say in the office, Major, that 
your bill was all ready, as you had asked for 
it, and all your things are out of your room 
now." [He goes out. 



IX 

Major Strong {moving toward the door): 
"I will run down for a minute and settle 
everything." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "It is true, then, that 
you are going to-night?" 

Major Strong : " In a few minutes the regi- 
ment will be down here, and I must fall in 
and march away. May I come back and say 
good-bye ?" 

Mrs. Willoughby : " I should never forgive 
you if you did not. Let me have the last 
word with you — it is a woman's privilege to 
have the last word, you know. Maj — " 

Major Strang (interrupting her): "John — 
Sister Mary." 

[He kisses her hand and goes out, leaving 
the door open. 



X 

Mrs. Willoughby {looking after Tiim): "I 
feel proud to be loved by such a man. And 
how handsome he looks in his uniform ! If 
it was not that my heart is buried in the 
grave — I don't know but that I might — per- 
haps — " 

\The hall-boy appears at tJie door with a 
large painting. 

Mrs. Willoughby: " Is that it?" 

The hall-boy: "Yes, mum." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Put it on this easel 
here." 

The hall -boy {placing the picture on the 
easel): "It looks just like the Colonel, don't' 
it, mum? I don't wonder the boys asked it 
to take something." 

Mrs. Willoughby {stiffly) : " That will do." 

The hall-boy (jgoing to the door) : " You see 



63 



I used to know the colonel, mum, before the 
war. He was a gay old boy, I can tell you!" 
Mrs. Willoughby (shar2')ly) : ' ' You may go 
now." 
The hall-boy: " All right, mum." 
[He leaves the room through the open door. 
Mrs. Willoughby, standing silently he- 
fore the picture, sighs, and begins to 
drape an American flag over the top of 
the easel. 
Mrs. Willoughby: "It is very like him. 
This is really Dashing Dick Willoughby, of 
the Fighting Forty-first ; and I can gaze on 
it without tears. How is it, I wonder ?" 



XI 

Dr. Doulton (appears at the door, saying): 
** Strong hasn't gone yet ?" 

Mrs. Willoughby : " Kot yet. But he has 
to go in a few minutes." 

Dr. Doulton (taking a chair) : "I will try 
to get back before he is off." 

Mrs, Willoughby: "Why not wait here 
now?" 

Dr. Doulton: "I can't. My profession- 
al services are required elsewhere in the 
hotel." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Is anybody ill ?" 

Dr. Doulton: " There is another widow in 
the house, and she has something to occupy' 
her mind. It is a cat, and it has been ailing 
for a day or two; and now I have just been 
summoned to attend it." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Then you must hurry 



65 

back again, for I expect to hear the band 
every minute." 

\_8he finishes draping the flag over the top 
of the picture-frame, and she moves hack 
from the easel, looking at it. 

Dr. Doulton (seeing picture): ** What's 
this?" 

Mrs. Willoughby : "A picture, as you 
see." 

Dr. Doulton : "Are you starting a gal- 
lery?" 

Mrs. Willoughby : " It is a portrait of my 
husband." 

Dr. Doulton {crossing over to tlie picture 
and reading the inscription on the frame): 
"'Colonel Richard Willoughby, U. S.Y., 
treacherously killed by a rebel at New Or- 
leans after the surrender of the city. Pre- 
sented to the New York Historical Society 
by his devoted widow.' Oh, ho! So you 
are the devoted widow of Dashing Dick 
Willoughby, of the Fighting Forty-first?" 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Yes." 



66 

Dr. Doulton {dryly): "Ah! I thought so. 
\He looks at Tier keenly.'] Then I can give you 
news of your husband." 

Mrs. Willoughby {starting): "You don't 
mean to say that — that — [^QuicMy']: He isn't 
alive, is he?" 

Dr. Doulton {grimly): "No, he's dead. 
I saw to that! I attended him myself." 

Mrs. Willoughby {dropping into a chair): 
"You did startle me so!" 

Dr. Doulton: "I meant it!" 

Mrs. Willoughby; "Why?" 

Dr. Doulton: " Everybody underestimates 
the therapeutic advantages of startling a 
widow who is mourning over an unworthy 
husband." 

Mrs. Willoughby {rising quickly) : ' ' Doctor 
Doulton!" 

Dr. Doulton (brusquely'): "You do not 
propose to water his grave with your tears 
all your life, do you?" 

Mrs. Willoughby (m^^ dignity): "Yes." 

Dr. Doulton: "He wasn't worth it." 



67 



Mrs. Willoughby {severely) : " I cannot per- 
mit—" 

Dr. Doulton: " He wasn't worth a single 
tear from you." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Doctor, I will not al- 
low—" 

Dr. Doulton {going to {lie table and 'pour- 
ing out a glass of watei'): "Take a little 
sip." 

Mrs. Willoughby {taking the glass): "If 
you have any bad news, tell me quickly." 

Dr. Doulton {feeling her pulse): "I will." 

Mrs. Willoughby {tearfully): "I can stand 
it." 

[She sets down the flass of water untasted. 

Dr. Doulton: "I am sure you can." 

Mrs, Willoughby {anxiously): "Go on, 
doctor, do go on! Don't you see that I am 
all on fire ?" 

Dr. Doulton: "I see that — and I see, too, 
that you are ready to believe what I tell you. 
It's no more than the truth. I knew Dick 

Willoughby well. He was a good-for-noth- 
9 



68 

ing and a ne'er-do-well. He drank and he 
gambled." 

Mrs. Willougliby : " It is cowardly of you 
to accuse him now." 

Dr. Doulton : " He was a spendthrift and 
a fortune-hunter; probably he married you 
for your money." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Do you think I will 
believe this?" 

Dr. Doulton: " He was a libertine, and he 
was shot by a woman whom he had brought 
with him and abandoned for another." 

Mrs. Willoughby : " It isn't true! It can't 
be true!" 

Dr. Doulton: "I was with him when he 
died ; and I saw the body of the poor wretch 
who had killed him." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Was she hanged?" 

Dr. Doulton: "She took poison five min- 
utes after your husband died." 

Mrs. Willoughby {falling hack on t?ie sofa) : 
"This is too horrible!" 

Dr. Doulton: "You are like the rest. A 



69 



woman refuses to see the clay feet of her 
idol until it is humbled in the dust before 
her." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "I won't believe it! 
There must be some mistake." 

Dr. Doulton : ' ' You are even harder to 
convince than Major Strong." 

Mrs. Willoughby Cswprised): " He doesn't 
know of this ?" 

Dr. Doulton : " I told him." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "You told him? 
When ?" 

"Dr. Doulton: "This evening — not an 
hour ago — while we were waiting for you." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "And he never said a 
word to me!" 

Dr. Doulton : "He couldn't tell you, of 
course ; he's a soldier; I'm a doctor; and we 
use fire and sword in different ways. My 
weapons are the bistoury and the scalpel, 
and as I saw that your love for your hus- 
band was morbid, I cut it out and cauterized 
the wound." 



70 



Mrs. Willoughby : "He knew, and he 
never said a word." 

Dr. Doulton : ' ' Honesty forbade his yield- 
ing to the temptation — though it may not 
console him for the consequences of hav- 
ing resisted. But I cannot dally here any 
longer. I must go to my patient — the inva- 
lid cat of the other widow, [He turns to 
the door.'] Don't let the Major go till I say 
good-bye to him." 

Mrs. Willoughby {impatiently): "Yes — 
yes." 



XII 

[Dr. Doulton goes out, leaving the door 
open leldnd Mm. Mrs. Willoughby 
stands silent in tJiougM for a moment 
or two. Then she comes forward and 
drops the flag across the portrait so as 
to hide the face. 
Mrs. Willoughby: "But it is best always 
to learn the truth." 

[Major Strong appears in the doorway; he 
has put on his belt and his swoi'd, and 
his cap is in his hand. 
Major Strong : "May I conae in?" 
Mrs. Willoughby {feverishly excited) : " Oh 
— yes — you may come in !" 

Major Strong : "I have only a minute or 
two more ; the boys are very near here now," 
Mrs. Willoughby: " And you must go?" 
Major Strong {surprised): "Certainly." 



72 

Mrs. Willoughby : " Even if I asked you to 
stay?" 

Major Strong: "I am under orders." 

Mrs. Willoughby {enthusiastically) : "Ah, 
that is noble! That is like you — always 
ready to do your duty !" 

Major Strong {surprised again): "I hope 
so." 

Mrs. Willoughby: " Do you think that I do 
not see your heroism, and that I do not thank 
you for it? I understand you at last!" 

Major Strong: " I do not know that I quite 
understand you now." 

Mrs. Willoughby : " I thank you, and I 
look up to you!" 

Major Strong: " You are excited, I see." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Excited? And well I 
may be!" 

Major Strong (alarmed): "Are you ill?" ' 

Mrs, Willoughby: "No; I am well, at 
last," 

Major Strong: "You are nervous. Shall I 
send for Dr. Doulton?" 



73 

Mrs. Willoughby : " I have just seen him." 
Major Strong {anxiously): "And what did 
he say?" 

Mrs. Willoughby : " He told me of your 
goodness and of his baseness." 

Major Strong {puzzled) : "The doctor's base- 
ness?" 
Mrs. Willoughby: " No, of my husband's." 
[The music of an approaching land is 
heard, playing * ' Johnny Comes March- 
ing Home. " 
Major Strong: "What did he tell you ?" 
Mrs. Willoughby: "He told me how my 
husband died, and who killed him." 

Major Strong {Jiotly) : ' ' Then he took a 
most unwarrantable liberty — " 

Mrs. Willoughby : "And he did me a most 
inestimable service." 

[The band has come nearer and nearer; it 
is now almost under the window. 
Major Strong: " There is my regiment!" 
Mrs. Willoughby: " Must you go at once?" 
Major Strong: "I have no choice." 



7i 

Mrs. Willougliby: "Without one word?" 

Major Strong : ' ' What can I say that I have 
not said already? You will not let me tell I 
love you." 

l^Irs. Willoughby: "Won't I?" 

Major Strong: "You told me not to speak 
of it again." 

Mrs. Willoughby: "Did I?" 

Major Strong: "What can I do but obey?" 

Mrs. Willoughby : " That's just like a 
man! You go on in your straightforward 
way — and — and you never see things — " 

Major Strong: "You have rejected me 
twice already." 

Mrs. Willoughby; "Didn't they teach you 
at school that two nega;tives make an affirma- 
tive?" 

Major Strong {joyfully) : "Do you mean to 
hint that I may hope?" 

[Mrs. Willoughby stands silent for a mo- 
ment. Then Major Strong starts for- 
ward, clasps her in his arms and kisses 
Tier. 



Major Strong: "Then you will take me at 
last, Mary?" 

Mrs. Willoughby : " If you will take me, 
John." 

Major Strong: "Then we are engaged?" 

IVIrs. Willoughby: "I suppose so." 

Major Strong: "When will you marry 
me?" 

Mrs. Willoughby : "How impatient the 
man is. Why, we are only just engaged, 
and you want me to name the day." 

Major Strong: "When can we be mar- 
ried?" 

Mrs. Willoughby: " You asked me that be- 
fore." 

Major Strong: " And you must give me an 
answer quickly, for I must be off at once." 

Mrs. Willoughby {clinging to Mm) : " I can- 
not bear to let you go now — but I must — I 
know I must. And I will try to bear my- 
self bravely, as becomes a soldier's wife." 

Major Strong : ' ' And when will you be his 
wife?" 

10 



76 



Mrs. Willoughby : ' ' Come back to me and 
I will marry you whenever you please." 
Major Strong: ''My darling!" 



XIII 

[As he embraces her Dr. Doulton appears 

in the doorway. 
[When the doctor sees Mrs. Willoughby 
in Major Strong's arms he starts hack. 
Dr. Doulton: "Oh! and I meant to marry 
her myself !" 



THE END 



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